A/N: Sorry for not releasing a chapter sooner, but I promise that another chapter will be released today or tomorrow. Other than that, I don't have really any other news. So please read and enjoy! :D


Chapter 7 - Guilty Conciseness

Carlisle

I walk into the house and slam the door behind me, running my hand through my hair in frustration.

Today I told the most beautiful girl in the world that she had silly crush on me, that it was nothing but a teenage girl's imagination.

"Hey, hey! What did the door ever do to you?" Edward came in to investigate, his face riddled with excitement and confusion.

It was rare for him to ever see me in such an irritated mood, I had always tried my best to keep my work and my personal life in two separate worlds. Wanting to protect Edward from the reality of my work, of course I loved it, but sometimes happy endings were just never in sight. Especially for those that would no longer see anything but an eternity of darkness.

"Sorry, my day... it's been long."

He gave me a sympathetic look, a look that did nothing but cause me heartache. Edward trusted me, confined in me with his troubles, with his greatest anxieties, and I betrayed that trust with a girl. A girl that was supposed to be his, the girl who was supposed to save him from all of his demons. The demons that would haunt him for life, but at least she would be there to help him.

"Have you had anything for dinner?" I asked, trying to change the topic. Hopefully, he would not pry into the matter anymore and just trust that it wasn't anything big.

He nodded, "Yeah, sorry. I went out with Mike and some of his other friends. You know, the guys," He said with a boyish grin, clearly he had enjoyed himself.

I smiled warmly, glad that he spent so much time with friends, especially since I was barely there for him anymore. "It's fine, I'm glad you had fun." I claimed with a boyish grin of my own, messing with his well kept hair playfully, just to irritate him.

"Hey!" He waved away my hand roughly, "What if Bella was here!?"

A twinge of guilt twisted my heart, causing me to wince slightly in pain. Just her name was enough to send me into a whirlpool of pure betrayal. I am no friend or father figure he could depend on, I'm barely a man. What kind of man would fall for a teenager? And what kind of man would yearn to turn back time to deal with the situation differently? And for what, to put a smile on her disappointed face? To tell her that she was not the only one feeling as though they couldn't live another second without the other? Only a man who was selfish would think such a thing, and sadly, I am that man.

"What makes you think Bella would come?" Her name dried my mouth, it just barely could make it past my lips.

"We're working on a project together in Biology! What if she had a question, or," He trailed off, his eyes growing wide, "What if she were to come to ask a stupid question as an excuse to see me!" A grin formed crookedly along his lips, his teeth were showing in all of their glory and even his eyes sparkled at the idea.

I could do nothing but smile sadly at the scene, he was clearly head over heels for her, and still, I could do nothing but pray that she wouldn't show up on that doorstep. That she would keep her distance, not even daring to come close to me.

"I'm sorry there champ," I claimed, trying to keep my usual enthusiasm when talking to him. "Next time I'll just need to make sure I'm painting." I trailed off with my usual smirk, hoping that he'd catch on to my playful comment.

But he brushed it off with a small laugh, a laugh I could tell was fake. Clearly he no longer found my playful jokes as funny as they once were, at least to him, to others I was always just dry comedy.

There was a long and awkward silence between us, it was then that I realized we were slowly and carefully drifting apart. That he was no longer feeling the need to depend on me, or rather, be apart of my life. I was split between two worlds, one being where I was completely and utterly proud of him for finally maturing, becoming a man. Then there was the one that felt as though the entire world was just falling apart, that two planets were colliding and that we were all facing our fate of death. How could I possibly move on without him? But at the same time, how could I possibly move on with him?

He is slowly falling in love with Bella, and who knows, maybe she will eventually fall in love with him. They will get married, have tons of kids, and I will be just stuck as Grandpa. Only, I wouldn't want to be grandpa, I would want to be their father, the husband to their mother, and our kids to have an Uncle Edward. But that... that was all simply impossible.

"Ed-" I was almost immediately cut off by Edward, who didn't bother to at least stop, clearly uninterested with what I would have said.

"Look Carlisle," Just those few words stung, it felt as though he was using my name in more of annoyance than of family love. Not to mention, he almost sounded too bored to even talk to me at all, "It's been a long day... for both of us." He muttered, his eyes trailing down to his feet, "I'm just going to head off to bed, okay?"

I nodded sorrowfully, more than capable of reading between the lines.

My anxiety of drifting apart was not merely a wild thought, no, it was a fact. And perhaps that is my fault, lately I haven't been nearly half of a friend as what I had been before Bella entered our lives. But, nonetheless, I still tried to be there for him. These past couple days have been, well they have been long and stressful and full of guilt and regret.

I suppose I hadn't realized the full extent as to which I was inflicting that pain and regret onto our relationship, perhaps he was feeling unimportant.

But I know better than to believe that, to believe that it was a situation I could fix. That I could mend our relationship back to as strong as what it had been. No, Edward was growing up, he was becoming a man. Learning to depend on himself and not others.

I faintly could hear the door to his room shut, making my way towards my own. Not even bothering to eat, I just changed into some nightwear and shuffled into bed, even going so far as to forget to turn off the light. Which I found on and shining directly into my eyes in the morning.

I had made sure to set my alarm extra early, despite it being my day off, just to squeeze in what little quality time I had with Edward. I had wanted to make him a nice breakfast, one filled with bacon, eggs, pancakes, the full nine yards. Although, my efforts were in vain as he simply rushed past me and grabbed a piece of toast, already heading towards the door.

I frowned, "Where are you heading off to in such a hurry, it is only 7, doesn't school start at 8:30?" I questioned, getting an answer that made me almost sick to my stomach.

"Yeah, but I gotta get there early to ask Bella to Snowball before a bunch of people get there." He claimed, I assumed he didn't want to be embarrassed if she had said no, hence, his reasoning for going an hour and a half early.

"I just texted her to meet me, she said she was already on her way, wish me luck, okay?" He muttered with a yet another boyish grin, one that was stinging more than the one he had given me last night.

Surely, she wouldn't say anything, right?